Compiled on Thu Aug 20 11:47:21 2020.
The Ocean Health Index (OHI) is a scientific framework used to measure how healthy oceans are. Understanding the state of our oceans is a first step towards ensuring they can continue providing humans benefits now and in the future. The Index describes how well we are sustainably managing 10 goals for ocean ecosystems which represent the full suite of benefits that people want and need from the ocean. These goals include: artisanal fishing opportunity, biodiversity, carbon storage, clean waters, coastal livelihoods and economies, coastal protection, food provision, natural products, sense of place, and tourism and recreation. Each goal is given a score ranging from 0 to 100, and the full suite of goal scores are then averaged to obtain an overall index score for each region. The global Ocean Health Index (OHI) assesses ocean health for 220 coastal countries and territories and has been conducted every year starting in 2012. For more information about the philosophy of the Ocean Health Index and model development see http://ohi-science.org/ohi-global/.
OHI assessments have also been completed at smaller scales. Code, training, and support is also provided for independent groups interested in leading their own OHI assessments. These are called independent OHI assessments, or “OHI+ assessments”.
This report is a summary of the methods and results for the Tetiaroa OHI+ assessment, completed in 2020 in partnership with the Tetiaroa 4site team. The Tetiaroa OHI+ assessment uses the best-available data to measure progress toward target conditions for benefits provided by the atoll’s marine ecosystems, resulting in benefit-specific and overall health scores on a scale of 0 to 100.
Tetiaroa Atoll is a group of 13 small islands located 33 miles north of Tahiti. Originally settled over 4000 years ago, it served as a retreat for Tahitian royalty, until the arrival of British explorer James Cook in 1769. Despite falling under control of the British Crown for many years thereafter, local people considered the island as sacred land. Archaeological remains of temples and platforms built can still be found on various islets (called motus).
In the 1920s, much of the natural vegetation was removed to make way for coconut palm plantations, which remained active until the early 1960s. In 1967, Tetiaroa was purchased by American actor Marlon Brando, and remains under the ownership of his trust today. The waters around the island fall under the governance of French Polynesia.
In 2014, a luxury eco-resort was established on one of the islands, Onetahi. Called The Brando, is it managed by Pacific Beachcomber, LLC. The resort strives to be as sustainable as possible by minimizing visitors’ impact on the natural environment and creating programs that showcase the ecology and culture of Polynesia. Revenue from the resort helps support The Tetiaroa Society, a non-profit that acts as the main environmental steward of the island, supporting visiting researchers, giving tours to resort guests, and spearheading conservation and restoration projects.
The ecology of Tetiaroa is similar to other small islands in the South Pacific. It is surrounded by coral reefs and has additional reef structures in the lagoon, creating a highly productive and biodiverse marine environment. It is also home to 15 species of seabirds, including the brown booby and lesser frigate bird. Much of the native land vegetation has been displaced by coconut palms, although some of the smaller motus have intact native forest habitat.
Essentially all human activities that occur on Tetiaroa make use of marine resources, from recreation to research. Therefore, the scope of this assessment encompasses all marine areas withing a 3 nautical mile-buffer of the motus, as well as all the land that makes up the motus.